Leadingcourses.com unveils 2019 rankings

Independent golf course review website Leadingcourses.com has announced it Golfers’ Choice Awards for 2019.

The rankings, which this year cover 15 countries in three continents, are based on the independent reviews of golfers, which makes it the only user-generated golf course ranking in golf.

The Golfers’ Choice Rankings, which were first created six years ago, are only released in countries where Leadingcourses.com considers that there have been enough reviews to create a reliable ranking. Only when a golf club has gathered sufficient reviews are eligible to qualify for the rankings. To make sure that ratings stay relevant, reviews are devalued over time.

This year, South Africa joined the rankings for the first time, while there were eight new top-ranked courses. The biggest jump by a winner was in Belgium, where Royal Golf Club Sart Tilman (main picture) went from sixth to first. Another notable new No.1 is Real Golf de Pedreña, which is the number one in Spain, after toppling Valderrama from the top spot that it has held for the past five years.

Monte Rei Golf and Country Club in Portugal and the Koninklijke Haagsche Golf & Country Club in The Netherlands were ranked as the best courses according to golfers in their country for the sixth and fifth years in a row respectively.

Many golf courses in the rankings have green fees of €200-plus, while the cheapest club to top the country lists is Assoufid in Morocco, which charges €79 for 18 holes. The most expensive is Emirates Golf Club in Dubai, where the walk-on green fee is €291 a round.

2019 LeadingCourses.com country-by country rankings’ winners